Change history for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)
1.0
This page is for maintaining a record of changes between each
revision of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, produced
by the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working
Group (UAWG). If you find the list is
incomplete or inaccurate please send email to the Working Group at
w3c-wai-ua@w3.org.
Removed alternative formats (PS, PDF, text). There have
been problems in the past with the PDF, and the only real
advantage over printing from one's one browser is that the
table of contents used page number references. Henceforth:
Information about alternative formats will be available
in the FAQ.
The text version will be available with ",text".
There will be suggestions for how to create other versions
This draft incorporates fourth last call
reviews. It does not differ substantially from the last call
draft. Minor editorial fixes are not listed here.
Introduction
Added XForms to list of formats.
Added note that UAWG will follow development of
other WAI Guidelines, and that v 1.0 of other Guidelines
will remain available.
Added info about expected liaison with MMI Activity.
Guidelines
Checkpoints
1.2: Fix bug in cross reference (to 1.1, not 1.3),
per issue 547.
2.10: Per issue
552, Narrow scope of 2.10 to graphical UAs, text-to-visual
rendering. Made changes to provision, inclusion, and
Note. Changed title.
3.3: Per issue
548, Added normative inclusion to checkpoint 3.3:
User control of blinking effects caused by
rapid color changes is addressed by checkpoint 4.3.
Per issue
550, clarified text of third normative inclusion and merged with
second. Moved advice to authors to Note in techs doc.
Edited Note after checkpoint for clarity.
4.2: Per comments from Martin Duerst,
changed 'may' to 'should' in sufficient technique.
11.4: Per issue
551, tightened definition of single-key mode: "The user agent may satisfy the requirements of provision two of this
checkpoint with a "single-key mode". In a single-key mode, the
complete set of functionalities required by provision two must be
available through single-key bindings. The user must be able to
remain in single-key mode until explicitly requesting to leave
it."
Techniques
2.2: Added to doing more info about file: URI scheme and
recognizing text formats in the absence of Internet media type
metadata.
2.10: Added note to techs that same idea applies to text-to-speech
and text-to-braille, but no experience. Also,
fixed Techs based on comments froM MD (HTTP content-encoding
deleted), deleted part about internal character coding not
expressed.
3.4: Per
issue
546, Added info about independent switches for scripts, and
decoupling script configs from other features.
4.2: Added technique for 4.2 doing more: per-script family config.
This is the fourth last call draft of UAAG 1.0 (and accompanying
Techniques document).
Checkpoint 10.6: Scope of configuration requirement
clarified. Configuration not required for highlighting
of viewport, but rather for styles used to highlight
(when based on text).
Some clarifications based on comments from Judy
Brewer:
Add "neurological" to list of disabilities covered (abstract)
Clarified limitation of document regarding digital
rights management (moved note from conformance section to 1.3)
Chapter 2 intro. Put "checkpoint provisions" in strong.
2.6: "didactic". awkward phrase deleted.
Add sentence to section 1.1 to say that WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0
are in development and that the UAWG expects to follow
those developments. Say that UAAG 1.0 will refer to the
stable 1.0 documents (which will remain available).
Per request from Webmaster, use "WD" stylesheet instead of
base style sheet in compound document components, summary,
and checklists. Also, updated status sections to indicate
more clearly status of appendices in separate files. Also,
added more anchors for headings to conform to pubrules.
Improved numbering of subsections (in Chapters 1 and 3
notably).
This draft includes a modified checkpoint 6.4, per a
resolution of the 8 August 2002 UAWG teleconference. This document
is essentially the document that will go to last call.
This draft of UAAG 1.0 primarily revises the sections
on conformance and the introduction. This draft of Techniques
for UAAG 1.0 is based on a review by Eric Hansen.
Introduction
In 1.2, create subsections. Moved
some information about use of OE
features to this section since it added no normative information.
Left part about multiple operating environments as a global
sufficient technique in section on conformance
Moved security conditions to 1.5, sice it didn't add normative
information either; it states that no exemptions are permitted,
but that would be true if not stated at all. This is better up
front than buried in chapter 3. Some clarifications to this
material.
Added to target UA description oe features and plug-ins.
Removed from well-formed claim definition to simplify.
Checkpoints
6.5: Now explicitly references content focus, ui focus,
and selection. This was part of 6.6 and should have been
part of 6.5 as well.
Conformance
Clarification about absence of conformance profile
labels. Absence must imply unsupported for the calculation that
follows.
Stated up front in 3.1 that a conformance profile is a list
of assertions.
Created first subsection of 3.1 on default set of conformance
reqs. Added some global normative inclusions here, as well as
config files as global sufficient technique.
Consequently, the section "Requirements identified by a
conformance profile" is much shorter.
Moved section "Restricted functionality and valid claims" to
just after validity of a claim.
Moved well-formed claim example to end of that (short) section.
Simplified for content/ua section per EH suggestion.
Adjusted/reorganized sections on responsibility for claims:
a Claim is an assertion; w3c does not assure validity.
Glossary
User interface: Some edits based on Jon Gunderson
comments.
Serial access, sequential navigation: New terms introduced
to harmonize usage in the document.
References
Added XForms 1.0
Techniques
Too many edits to note here.
Who benefits: Harmonized the style of language used
in these sections.
4.6: Clarified that also for users with deafness.
Some impact matrix tweaks based on comments from Judy Brewer.
This version incorporates UAWG resolutions and editorial
comments suggested for the 8 July draft. This is expected to be the
final UAWG draft before returning to last call in August 2002.
However, there are still some questions about whether checkpoint
6.4 needs to be made more specific.
This draft incorporates comments from Harvey Bingham and a
substantial review by Eric Hansen. There are too many editorial
changes to list separately.
Introduction
1.2 Target UAs: Moved some information about composite UAs here
from section on conformance.
1.3 Limitations: Reformatted to be easier to read.
1.4: Relation to other stuff: Expanded this section to include
relation to other specs, and moved some information from 1.5 to
this section. Also, created a subsection on installation and moved
some stray stuff from conformance chapter to this section.
1.5: Per suggestion from Eric Hansen, reduced scope of this
section to discussion of user control. Moved section on benefits of
accessibility here.
Guidelines
Cleaned up and simplified (somewhat) explanation about
structure of a checkpoint.
Created a new section entitled "about the checkpoints" for
general information about checkpoints. This section includes the
priority definitions.
I revisited all the checkpoints to ensure that were
content is intended, the word appears in the
checkpoint provision.
Some checkpoints are now identified as being mutually exclusive
of others (and not "special cases"). For instance, checkpoint 1.2
may be excluded from a conformance profile, but 1.1 may not, so 1.1
must state that 1.2 is mutually exclusive.
Relationships among provisions that cross-reference one another
are clearer (e.g., 9.7 extends functionalities required by
9.3).
2.5: Per
25 July teleconf, deleted prerecorded text part of this
checkpoint.
3.1, 3.2, 3.6: Indicate that when content is toggled off, it is
conditional content.
4.1: Per
11 July teleconf and subsequent discussion on the list (see
email from Al Gilman). Clarified first bullet (use of "scale"),
and added some normative inclusions. Deleted Note.
4.2, 4.3: Tweaked to look like 4.1 (with override option its
own bullet).
4.6: Per
11 July teleconf, in second sufficient technique, deleted "so
that the user may position them independently."
4.1: Clarified that this checkpoint is for BOTH content and
UA.
11.5: Fixed to account for when no content focus present, per
25 July teleconf.
6.2: Added example of C++. Also, per
11 July teleconf, added a statement in normative exclusion that
exporting out of process may be useful.
9.1: Added normative exclusion when no content focus in
viewport, per
25 July teleconf.
9.3: Editorial tweaks to make it look like checkpoints in
G5.
10.1: Per
11 July teleconf, Clarify 10.1 to read "For graphical user
agents that render tables, for each table cell, allow the user to
view associated header information.". Also, indicated sufficient
techniques: query and rendering in same viewport.
Major overhaul based on suggestion from Eric Hansen to define
"conformance profiles". This version should be much easier to
understand. It's also been pruned (some information moved to other
parts of the document).
Terms "subject of claim", "(un)conditional conformance", and
"valid profile" removed.
Reinstated VisualText label for checkpoints 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, and
4.3, which is required for any UA that renders text visually.
More clearly indicate two uses of profiles: for evaluation and
as minimal requirements when part of a specification.
There is a more accurate representation of the relationship
between UAAG 1.0 and RFC2119.
There is a cleaner definition of the default set of
requirements.
New section in 3.2 "Requirements for user interface or
APIs"
In "Requirements for content, for user agent features, or both
user agent features and content", clarify that "content only" means
at least for content (and may do more for UI where it makes
sense).
Simplified section on well-formed claims due to factorization
of conformance profile information.
Definition of valid claim simplified: "A conformance claim is
valid if it is well-formed and true."
More clear statement that evaluation of claims requires
judgment.
Simplified section on referencing UAAG 1.0 conformance, due to
factorization of conformance profile information.
Glossary
"Image": Some tweaks based on discussion with EH.
"Content focus" Added link from definition to checkpoint
9.1.
"Text element": Removed last paragraph after discussion with
eric hansen (it was his text originally).
References
Added [DOM3EVENTS]
Added link to resource on access to PDF through MSAA at
Adobe.
9.6: Added some DOM techniques based on discussion with
Philippe Le Hegaret.
4.14: In Doing More: allowing the user to select more than one
style sheet may be a useful way to implement other requirements of
this document. Also, if the user agent offers several default style
sheets, the user agent can also use these to satisfy some
requirements (e.g., available on the Web; this would allow user
agents to improve accessiblity of deployed user agents).
This version is the result of nearly ten months of Candidate
Recommendation experience. It includes a number of important
changes that are the result of user agent evaluations performed
with developers of a variety of products. Important changes are
noted as such; there were a number of editorial changes made as a
result of removing and clarifying checkpoints.
Provisions are now much more tightly connected to one another.
Explicit references will reduce ambiguity about what is
required.
Added black and white printable PS versions.
Updated link to 18 Dec 2001 charter.
Adjusted documents to conform to W3C publication rules. Also,
added warning since some browsers forget to change file suffix
after uncompressing on the fly.
Deleted "security" as a limitation of this document (issue
528)
ImportantNew section 1.5 on
themes in this document.
Guidelines
Added links to checkpoints after guideline title.
Added to Section 2 (after description of checkpoints): "A user
agent may conform to this document without satisfying every
checkpoint. See the section on conditional conformance for more
information about how to eliminate some checkpoints and still
conform." (issue
522)
Checkpoints
Checkpoint numbers are the ones in this draft unless noted
otherwise. See also detailed list of
changes.
Each checkpoint now consists of provisions, optional sufficient
techniques, optional normative inclusions and exclusions (issue 538).
The normative inclusions section also includes conformance labels
and whether checkpoint for content, UA, or both. Some information
was moved to a section on normative inclusions (even when redundant
or unnecessary, but since normative anyway, ok to put there).
1.2, 9.5, 9.6: Important. Now optional and
part of Events label, per
6 June 2002 teleconf. Also, rewrote 1.2 and 9.6 in terms of
event types (issue
525 and also as the result of discussion with the DOM WG)
3.1: The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint with a
configuration to not render any images, including background
images. However, user agents should satisfy this checkpoint by
allowing users to turn off background images alone, independent of
other types of images in content. (issue
524)
3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6, 4.7: Added normative inclusion indicating
that these must be satisfied for all formats (issue
521)
3.5: Changed title, changed "refresh" to "retrieve", give META
example in Note. (issue
542)
4.1: Important. Attempted to clarify
checkpoint by emphasizing the scale requirement (otherwise, it
doesn't make sense and isn't useful if the user can only change,
for example, paragraph text size but not header size accordingly).
Split second part of (old) provision one into new provision
two.
4.6: Important. Per
13 June 2002 teleconf, modified to be only about
non-obfuscation. Added two sufficient techniques (render on top
with user control of text fg and bg, and render in separate
viewports). Changed title. Moved positioning information to
techniques and added turning off captions as well. Deleted "The
user agent is not required to make the captions background
transparent when those captions are rendered above a related video
track."
4.12, 4.13, 14.4, and 11.7: Independent provisions created to
make test suite work easier.
4.14: Important. Clarified the intent of the
first two provisions: Support alternate author style sheets.
Support at least one user style sheet.
6.2, 6.9: Not required to export bindings out of process (issue
519)
6.3: Refer to content rather than markup languages (issue
526). Also provide minimal requirement for structure access
(not character stream for content more structured than plain text)
in normative inclusion re: structured programmatic access.
6.10: Clarification that referes to "APIs implemented to
satisfy the requirements of this document" (issue
532)
6.6: Changed "alert" to "notify" (to avoid confusion with
"alert the user"). Made this change globally in the document for
programmatic notification.
8.1: Clarified that the expression "identified as such" means
"identified as such in the specification". However, this does not
account for W3C Notes such as "Accessibility features of CSS" which
may be useful but not normative (issue
533)
9.3, 9.7: Clarified to indicate that set of elements refesr to
the elements defined in the first provision of the checkpoint issue
534)
9.4: Added "If the user returns to a state in the history and
the user agent retrieves new content, the user agent is not
required to restore the saved values of the three state variables."
(issue
535)
9.7: Changed the title to "Move content focus in reverse" (issue
536)
10.1: Important. Per
20 June 2002 teleconf, now for graphical user agents only, and
only about cell/header relations. Added a sufficient technique:
"The user agent may satisfy this checkpoint with a technique
frequently employed by spreadsheet applications..."
10.7: Changed title and added Note that not about downloading
(issue
540). Indicate that for streaming content, load progress may be
similar to viewport position.
11.5:
Sufficient technique: The user agent may satisfy the
functionality of entering a URI for a new resource in a number of
ways, including by prompting the user, or by moving the user
interface focus... (issue
541)
Delete "refresh rendering", reload resource is ok, "Interrupt
reload request" instead of "Stop loading resource" (issue
542)
Clarified what forward/back one viewport means (issue
543)
11.7: Added normative exclusion that checkpoint does not
require that user profiles be portable (issue
539)
12.2: Added note that APIs benefit accessibility (issue
519)
12.3: Added cross-refs between 12.3 and 11.1 (since
documentation of default config sufficient for 11.1 if 11.3 not
satisfied; note that 11.3 is a P2...)
Checkpoints or portions of checkpoints from CR-UAAG10-20010912 that were
deleted:
2.2: Deleted second bullet on SGML/XML applications (issue
530)
2.10: Deleted per
6 June 2002 teleconf. Moved info to "doing more" section in
techs document for checkpoint 2.3.
Important. Deleted VisualText and ColorText
conformance labels per support for this
proposal from IJ. The consequence is that graphical user agents
are required to satisfy 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 when conforming with
corresponding content type labels.
Important. New section 3.12 on including UAAG
1.0 requirements in other specifications and conformance profiles
(issue
520)
Important. In 3.3, added section about
security considerations per
proposal. Also, removed "security" from section on restricted
functionality. This section should really only be about restricted
functionality as the result of author content (and not about the
UAs refusal to provide security mechanisms). (issue
528)
1.2, 9.5, 9.6: Now optional and part of Events label, per
6 June 2002 teleconf. Added Events label (section 3.7),
integrated into example in section 3.2. Reordered sections for
labels based on likelihood of being satisfied: content type labels,
events, selection, input modalities. This order is used throughout
the document (with applicability at the end). Added Events label to
well-formed claim section.
In section 3.9 (Conformance) change "should" to "must" for
"Information about which specifications have been implemented to
satisfy the requirements of the document (e.g., those of guideline
6 and guideline 8)." (issue
521)
In section 3.3 (conformance details), rewrote section on
conformance and implementing specifications (issue
521)
Deleted example of "fee link" from definition of applicability
(issue 544).
Glossary
Use "audio description" instead of "auditory description"
globally, but in glossary indicate WCAG 1.0 as source of auditory
description.
Added definitions of open and closed captions. Indicate what
UAAG 1.0 means by captions (related to "recognize").
Updated: Unicode to version 3.2, WCAG 1.0 Techniques,
Altifier,
Added: INFOSET (issue
529), XAG, ATK (Gnome API), ACCESSIBILITY-HOWTO,
ACCESSIBILITY-DEV-HOWTO, MAC-ACCESS, an active accessibility
reference, GECKO-API
Updated reference to DOM 2 events to include how to dispatch
events and register listeners.
Added some "latest version" links.
Checklists
In table version, can comment on a per-provision basis. Also,
don't center table data in table version
Indicated in checklists that more normative information
(exclusions and inclusions) is found in guideilnes doc.
Techniques
Note: Some techniques also indicated above, where moved from a
checkpoint as the result of deleting the checkpoint.
4.1: Added from Jim Allan: info on changing tool tips size in
Windows.
4.17: Link to section 7.0 of CSS1 for semantics of style sheet
selection.
5.5: Added to Notes/Rationale: Many user agents offer this
configuration as a security feature.
9.4: Added technique starting "For each state in the history,
keep track of the last time the content was modified."
9.6: Authors may specify redundant event handlers (e.g., the
same handler for both onmouseover and
onfocus events). When the user agent recognizes the
same handler for two event types, present only one of them to avoid
confusion.
9.5: Clarified rationale
10.1 Added CSS technique ('overflow').
10.6: Fee link techniques from old 5.6 moved here (issue 544).
11.2: Added to doing more: "If the user agent offers a way to
restore the user agent default configuration (e.g,. by pushing a
button), prompt the user to save the current configuration before
restoring the default configuration. This scenario illustrates the
value of named, persistent, reloadable configurations."
In Guideline 6, added that POR should be available through
API
In speech techs, suggested announcing different classes of
links differently
To cover "pathological" focus scenario from Al Gilman, added
"In some markup languages, it is possible (though somewhat
pathological) for two actions to be assigned to the same input
event type for a given element (e.g., one through an explicit event
handler and one "intrinsic" to the element). In this case, offer
the user a choice of which action to take."
Added IFRAME and FRAME reference to section on frame
accessibility.
Editorial changes based on comments from Harvey Bingham.
Checkpoints
2.4: Edited entire checkpoint based on discussion at the
26 July teleconf and discussions with the SVG WG. Pause
technique no longer mandatory, but there are requirements when it
is used to satisfy the checkpoint.
4.1, 4.9, 4.12, and 9.10: These checkpoints required both
configuration and control. Removed "control" requirement as this is
a subclass of configuration.
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 10.2, and 10.4: Per
26 July teleconf, edits to the cascade of which services to
use: range first based on what conventional choice utility offers,
otherwise lower level API.
6.5: Per
19 July teleconf, clarified note that only about content [the
checkpoint already says "content", so this is just clarification.]
Also, move the sentence about what an available API means from Note
to checkpoint (already done for 6.3 and 6.4).
9.3: Per
19 July teleconf, Added that user agent must (on configuration)
not move focus to another enabled element except on explicit user
request. Fixed note after the checkpoint.
10.4: Per
19 July teleconf, changed fourth provision to not require
rendering of more specific than smallest encompassing element.
Conformance
Important: For content/For UA feature labels now only used when
it's necessary to disambiguate a checkpoint. This is much easier as
it requires less reading and can be deleted in the obvious cases or
where the labels were confusing. I have also edited some of the
checkpoint text to make sure that it's clear when it's about
content or rendered content.
Techniques
2.4: Some changes based on discussion at the
26 July teleconf and discussions with the SVG WG.
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 10.2, and 10.4: Added information about function
calls for these services in Windows based on discussions with Tim
Lacy: ChooseFont, ChooseColor, DrawText.
Incorporated some editorial suggestions from Harvey
Bingham.
Based on some comments from Tantek Çelik, changed
"specification" to "format specification" for clarity in some
places (so that it would not be confused with "specified by the
author").
Based on input from the WG, edited the summary to include more
scenarios and fewer checkpoints/guidelines examples.
Introduction
Use "stakeholder" per comments from Richard Premack.
Edits to section on limits of document about output modalities.
Don't apologize for synthesized speech requirements.
Guidelines
Edits to introduction describing checkpoint structure to make
clear what is normative and informative.
Checkpoints
Per
12 July teleconference, integrated "rendered content" label in
addition to "all content" label. Editor's note: Having integrated
this label, I am not entirely satisfied with the results and may
propose something that will be easier to use and understand. This
is a step in the right direction, however.
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 10.2, 10.4: Per
12 July teleconference, refer to "font services", "text
decoration services", and "color services". For 4.1, incorporated
"cascade" so that font services are required first, otherwise text
drawing services. Note that the WG did not agree
to this type of change to the other checkpoints (just 4.1), but I
made this change to all of these checkpoints for the sake of
consistency. I do not believe this changes there meaning in any
way.
6.4: Added note that alert of changes does not refer to style,
only content. This clarification has not yet been
approved by the working group. Refer to
proposal from Ian.
Conformance
Important Edited based on comments from SVG
WG. This version puts the most important conformance concepts up
front, to avoid confusion.
Added a statement that some checkpoints may not benefit some
users for some content, but are expected to benefit many users for
general purpose content. This was added based on SVG comments that
suggested that some requirements shouldn't be included in the
document because they didn't help users all the time.
Added comment per Richard Premack observation that components
may reside on a server.
Tried to make sure that all requirements are either stated in
checkpoints, or things referred to from checkpoints, or in the
details clauses of the conformance section.
Added to image/animation/audio/video content type labels
information about requirements applying to media objects that may
be rendered independently and coherently according to
specification.
Per
12 July teleconference, added statement that when a UA runs in
more than one OE, the user should consider several factors in
choosing which conventions to follow.
Glossary
Important To address
issue 517, added definitions of "image" and "audio", and edited
definition of "animation" (see also requirements added to content
type labels). The point of this change was to define these terms
such that they refer to atomic media objects that can be played on
their own. Thus, the requirements of the document apply to those
media objects that may be played independently. Refer to discussion
at the
12 July teleconference.
Techniques
Per comments from SVG WG, removed incorrect CSS example from
checkpoint about outline view.
Different provisions of a checkpoint are in a bulleted list.
This should be easier to read and refer to.
Added document date to checklists and split-out chapters
Changed "next" link text to "next chapter". Same for
previous.
Added xml namespaces as example of something that a user agent
might not recognize (based on SVG WG comments).
Checkpoints
Updated description in section of the structure of a
checkpoint.
1.1: Changed note after 1.1 and notes/rationale/who benefits to
make clearer direct v. spatial access
3.2/3.7: Per discussion at
7 June teleconf, moved sufficient techniques (silent/invisible)
from techs to checkpoint text for 3.2 and 3.7. Make this a
sufficient but not recommended technique.
3.3: Per
7 June teleconf, the user agent must not drop packets in the
case of streaming content. The user must have access to all the
same content, but in non-animated and non-blinking form. Clarify
that text may be rendered in another viewport.
3.4: Per discussion at
21 June teleconf, clarified that a single alert for more than
zero scripts or applets is required
4.6: Per
7 June teleconf, made clear that transparent bg for captions
not required.
6.4: Per
Chair's announcement for
issue 515, added note to 6.4 that UA developers should
implement APIs that may work across software on a given OE.
10.8: Fixed - for content only (not user agent).
11.4, 11.5: Clarified that these are about user agent default
input configurations. (same language used in 11.3).
References
Added [PWD-USE-WEB], even though not yet a stable document.
Added link to it from impact matrix in techniques document.
Techniques
3.2: Left rationale for why silent/invisible is not recommended
technique.
4.6: Added config for this option to doing more. Added note
about which background is preferred, per comments from Cindy
King
To section on known ilmitatinos, added suggestion to developers
to consider untreated issues, per
24 May teleconf.
Guidelines
Edits to introduction, explaining nature of checkpoints, per
24 May teleconf.
Checkpoints
1.1: State that the user must be able to operate with the
keyboard any functionality that is available through the user
interface (in some configuration). Per
30 May teleconf (
issue 514).
2.3: No longer about global configuration. A global config is
sufficient, but not necessary.
3.1, 3.2, 3.7: Eliminate placeholder requirement and point to
checkpoint 2.3 since unrendered content becomes conditional
content; refer to 2.3. Removed 3.8 from audio/video/image content
label requirements. Per
24 May teleconf
Each checkpoint now has introductory summary phrase.
Changed "form control" to "form element" globally, to avoid
confusion with "user interface control".
Introduction
Some changes to the section on target user agents to clarify
what the expected operating environment is.
Deleted the term "mainstream".
In limitations of the document, talk about limited aural space
per
18 May teleconf.
Guidelines
4: Deleted note about the checkpoints including conditional
content since this sounds like a normative rqeuirement but it is in
the guideline prose. Moved this to conformance section.
6: Edited prose. Deleted "interoperable" from "interoperable
API" per Mark Novak comment.
8: In prose, indicate how two checkpoints fit together.
10: In prose, make clearer that this is information through a
UI and not just visual.
2.1: Simplified. Also, per
10 May teleconference, added exemption in case of
contradition.
2.2: Simplified. Added link to "text source".
2.3: Simplified. Removed "close relationship" and now indicate
only summary, description, etc. for more precision. Alert now only
required for query option (per
10 May teleconf). Alert must be per-element.
Merged some topics (logos, responsibility) under 3.8 (validity
of a claim).
Under 3.9:
New section on conformance and implementing specifications. Per
19 April teleconf decision that conformance possible to some
specs (but not required for all).
Edits to description of content only /ui
Edits to section on satisfying through API or otherwise.
Edits to section on restricted functionality and
conformance.
Per
16 May teleconf, it's ok to satisfy a "content only"
requirement in a manner that also involves the UI.
Per
23 May teleconf, configuration files are ok to satisfy config
requirements. Added that *should* also be do-able in UI.
Well-formed claim should include information about
APIs and formats used to satisfy the requirements of the
document.
Added 4.11 to Audio label.
Glossary
Added a navigation bar to top of glossary.
Per
23 May teleconf, added statement that glossary is
normative.
Added a "Who benefits" section to each checkpoint. This
replaces the impact matrix. Also generate a new appendix
summarizing which checkpoints are expected to help which
users.
Added a section summarizing the differences between the
Techniques document and the Guidelines.
Added note that references to products are not
endorsements.
2.1: Explain "contradiction" case. Added technique about
configuration in case of contradiction.
2.3: Tweaks to emphasize the presence of more than one piece of
associated conditional content. Added technique of a global flag
(menu) and then per-element access thereafter.
2.4: Added note about usability for some content. Added to
techniques why unsynched content need not be paused. Added other
techniques.
2.5: Added rationale why transcripts present at same time as
visual track.
2.6: Added cross-reference to SMIL 2.0.
2.10: Added Cyrillic example.
3.6: Added more info to techniques about how done in HTML
3.7: Added note to explain why lower priority than 3.2
8.2: Added rationale why conformance to w3c specs not P1.
10.3: Per
17 May teleconf, indicate that black, white, grey are
colors.
This draft of the documents is a first experiment in breaking
them into smaller pieces by default. There is still a single HTML
version available for each document, available along with the other
available formats.
There were only very minor changes to the Guidelines. This was
mostly an effort to clean up the Techniques Document.
Techniques
Added same navigation tools as in Guidelines (next, previous,
guideline etc.)
Divided techniques into five groups: notes and rationale,
example techniques, doing more, cross references in this document,
other references.
General editing to the techniques to reduce redundancy and
update with changes to the document.
Removed table of Netscape's keyboard bindings and replaced with
a link to the Mozilla site (which has lots of good information
about keyboard bindings that developers should think about).
Some images were too wide, so I cropped them as best I
could.
Further deleted instances of "must" to fall in line with
RFC2119. "Must" only used in checkpoints, in references to
checkpoints that use "must", and in section on conformance.
Guidelines
Added Note before Guideline one about checkpoint
"interdependence".
4.11 (and elsewhere): Changed "speech playback rate" to "speech
rate".
6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.7: Important Per decision at
29 March 2001 teleconference, added requirements that if
standard APIs not available, use some publicly documented API to
provide access.
8.2: Tweaks in Note about conformance to W3C specs.
9.2: Per decision at
29 March 2001 teleconference, did not add requirement for
reverse navigation, but did add suggestion to note.
10.2, 10.6: Fixed label: These checkpoints are for content
only. Moved 10.6 to section on content requirements.
11.4: Minimal requirement is to have single key bindings for at
least all of what's in 11.5, per decision at
29 March 2001 teleconference. Add a Note to encourage
developers to supply a bunch of single key bindings AND that most
functionalities should be available for single-key bindings. Other
edits as well to clarify the meaning of single key, option for
modifiers for default input config. See
issue 468.
Conformance
In applicability provision 3, cleaned up references to event
handlers.
Added (new) checkpoint 3.8 to content type label groups Video,
Audio, Animation, and Image.
Added note that checkpoint grouping/order has no bearing on
conformance.
Added note that link to techniques after checkpoint is
informative.
Glossary
Some general (minor) editorial cleanup.
"Placeholder": updates and cleanup of definition. Added some
techniques as well to convey idea.
Event handlers: Cleaned up definition and added definition of
"explicitly associated event handler".
Assistive technology: Added as another example of an AT
definition, link to AT act of 1998.
References
Added [AT1998].
Techniques
1.2: Added query and non-query techniques. Added config option
to non-query technique.
1.2, 9.4: Added information about what constitutes an input
device event handler in HTML 4 and DOM 2.
2.5, 4.6: Added techniques for SMIL 1.0 user agents on
recognizing as captions what is guarded by the system-captions test
attribute.
2.7: Added very little in the way of examples of conditional
content.
3.4: Added technique to increase granularity of on/off
control.
8.2: Added link to W3C tech reports page.
9.4: per
29 March teleconf : added technique to restore state variables
after refresh of content. Removed first technique since part of
checkpoint now.
11.4: mention that entering a special mode (e.g, via one key)
and having single key bindings after that is also useful.
2.7: Per
22 March teleconf, repair techniques in checkpoint are
sufficient but not necessary. Important edits to Note after
checkpoint to give a better sense of the goal of repair.
4.13, 4.14, 4.15: Changes based on
22 March teleconf decision, but deviated from decision by
incorporating CSS2 terms directly into checkpoints. Left
informative reference to CSS2.
9.8: Per
22 March teleconf decision, added alert requirement when search
reaches end of content.
Old 11.3: Split into 11.3 and 11.4 (as part of improving input
modality label defintions).
Conformance
Important changes based on
proposal from Ian adopted at 22 March teleconference.
Implemented labels for content only, user agent only, or both.
Labels appear after priority statement. See also new subsection of
3.7 (validity of a claim) on these labels.
Rewrote conformance model (3.1)
Added example of determining set of requirements.
Added requirement to use content type labels in addition to
information about supported formats.
Updated input modality requirements and descriptions.
Updated definition of valid claim based on "default" set of
requirements.
Glossary
Added statement to definition of DOM about most requirements
(but for repair) applying after construction of DOM.
Added definitions of normative/informative. Link to them from
the document.
To definition of "auditory description", added "sometimes audio
description" based on
commetnts from Geoff Freed.
Editorial: General substitution of "Allow the user to configure
the user agent to" to "Allow configuration to"
Editorial: Global substitution of "active element" with
"enabled element". Introduction of term "Interactive element".
Editorial: Some changes based on comments from Aaron Leventhal.
In particular, changed "must" to "needs to" in a number of places
(e.g., guidelines prose, techniques) to avoid impression that
required for conformance.
Introduction
1.3 (Known limitations): Added a limitation that there is no
requirement in this document for all user interface
components to be under final user control; this is covered to a
large extent in Guideline 5 and also in other software
guidelines.
Guidelines
Guideline 4 split into Guidelines 4 and 5. Moved checkpoints
about control of UI behavior to new Guideline 5.
2.5: Changed from "allow the user to specify" to "allow the
user to configure or control".
3.2: Content type "Animation", not "Image". But leave video as
well.
4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7: Changed "video and animations" to
"animations (including video and animated images)" per
proposal from Ian adopted at
8 March teleconf.
4.5: Important Based on discussion at 1-2 March
face-to-face, added the following statement: "The user agent is
not required to play synchronized audio during fast advance or
reverse of animations (though doing so may help orient the
user)."
4.13, 4.14, 4.15: Important These are derived
from one single checkpoint per 1-2 March
face-to-face resolution. These checkpoints need review! (Didn't
do much to move techniques around yet.)
6.5: (Editorial) Selection and focus are no longer part of "UI
controls".
9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7: Now form a coherent
content-focus navigation model (among viewports and among enabled
elements and among history). Changed per
proposal from Ian (adopted at
8 March teleconf) in conjunction with resolutions from 1-2 March
face-to-face.
9.1: Removed this Note: "Navigation among all viewports implies
at least allowing the user to cycle through all viewports."
9.2, 9.7: Based on comments from Aaron Leventhal, attempt at
making the differences between these two checkpoints more apparent
(note that the first sentence is the same in both, but the other
two differ).
9.8: Clarification about where the default search starting
point should be (when user has not indicated). Based on resolution
from 1-2
March face-to-face.
10.7: No longer talks about current viewport; instead viewport
with current focus. Changed per
proposal from Ian (adopted at
8 March teleconf).
11.4: Browser history is not required, so history stage change
bindings moved to "if supported" section.
Applicability: Added some comments about event bubbling to
third applicability provision.
3.5 Responsibility for Claims: Changed wording from "anyone may
make a claim" to "this spec imposes no restrictions about who may
make a claim".
3.1 (Content type labels): Made some adjustments based on
definition of Animation that includes Video and Animated Images. In
particular: Animated images are part of animation, not images. The
goal was to have video/image/animation conformance overlap as
little as possible. Also adjusted Speech label based on two new
speech checkpoints.
Per 1-2
March face-to-face, changes to the terms "focus" (content focus
and user interface focus), "selection", "point of regard".
"Event handlers": Added "An event handler is 'explicitly
associated with an element' when the event handler is associated
with a particular element through markup or the
DOM."
References
New section "How to refer to this document".
Distinguishes this version from latest version. Gives sample HTML
markup.
Added [SMIL20]
Fixed some cross-linking bugs between Guidelines and Techniques
pointed out by
Harvey Bingham.
Techniques
2.7: Added some examples of "required" conditional
content.
3.5: Added technique to configure-content refresh based on
CMN example.
4.4, 4.5: Added some techniques for doing this in SMIL 2.0.
Added some info about applicability and streaming. Added techniques
pointing to digital talking books information.
5.1, 5.2: Some techniques added.
5.5: Suggest warning user that some fee mechanisms may not be
"caught" in this configuration. Added per 1-2 March
face-to-face resolution.
6.1: Added rationale about advantage of access to source
content to ATs (rather than offscreen access).
9.9: Added some comments about where important information is
identified from (e.g., specs, metadata).
12.3: Added a technique to document where UA diverges from
system conventions.
The document talks a lot more about "conditional content" and a
lot less about "equivalents", though equivalents are still
mentioned (with respect to WCAG and also checkpoint 1.3).
Guidelines
Prose to Guideline 2 edited to reflect staged access
model.
Prose all Guidelines edited to reflect current state of
document (after evolution of checkpoints and migration of
checkpoints to other guidelines).
3.3: Added a note that blinking may be useful to some users
(e.g., users who are deaf).
5.4: Per
issue 457, deleted "usign standard APIs". Added a
cross-reference to 5.6, since it covers the standard API
requirements. Checkpoint 5.4 requires read-write access in all
cases, even when no std APIs available. Moved commented examples to
Note after checkpoint, in conjunction with cross reference to
5.6
8.3: Per
issue 458, Added statement to that the requirement for image
maps (all image maps, not just client-side) is highlight of map as
a whole, with "should" for configuration to highlight each active
region. The idea is that the author will help here.
Note:
objection from Charles.
Conformance
Based on
proposal from Ian, added text to clarify that checkpoint
groupings are not normative. This pertains to
issue 435.
Glossary
Added "conditional content"
Modifications to the definitions of text element, text
equivalent, and equivalent. Much of the information previously
there is still there, but now the definitions point more towards
WCAG 1.0 definitions.
References
Added RFC2046 (for checkpoint 2.2).
Techniques
Checkpoints 2.1, etc.: Techniques updated since checkpoints
moved around.
Checkpoint 2.10: Add info about HTTP headers and CSS ':lang'
pseudo-class. Also, revised this sentence "For instance, a user
agent that doesn't support Korean (e.g., doesn't have the
appropriate fonts or voice set) should allow configuration to
announce the language change with the message "Unsupported language
-- unable to render" (e.g., when the language itself is not
recognized) or "Korean not supported -- unable to render" (e.g.,
when the language is recognized by the user agent doesn't have
resources to render it)."
Checkpoint 4.4: Added note that access through two passes is
better than no access at all.
Global change of "operating system and programming language
environment" to "operating environment". Left some OS-specific
examples, however.
Based on discussion at
25 Jan 2001 teleconf, deleted many instances of
"author-specified" from checkpoints since the applicability
provision is in effect globally. However, left "author-specified"
when necessary to distinguish from what is from the author and what
is from the user agent: keyboard bindings and styles, navigation
order. Deleted some instances of "author-supplied" but left a few
others where they added clarity.
Introduction
At the beginning of section 2, added wording "Some checkpoints
(e.g., those requiring developers to follow conventions or
implement specifications defined outside this document) are
inherently more subject to interpretation than others."
Checkpoints
2.1: Per resolution to
issue 394, (resolved at
18 Jan 2001), added source-like view to minimal requirement.
Added more rationale to Note.
3.2: Content type label changed from Animation to Image.
Old 3.4: Deleted checkpoint for no blinking
images for a couple of reasons: We are not aware of these on the
Web, and if there are, they are probably covered by the
requirements to turn of animated images.
9.6: Since this checkpoint is P3 and checkpoint 9.3 is P2,
checkpoint 9.6 is a "special case" of 9.3 but not an important
special case.
Conformance
Intro section to section 3 tweaked to be more readable.
WCAG 1.0 conformance as part of well-formedness only in the
case when the claim is on the Web.
Editorial changes to well-formedness section per Eric Hansen
suggestion. The result is that labels are part of well-formedness
in the case of a claim of conditional conformance. So "validity" is
reduced to well-formedness plus verified satisfaction of
requirements.
In definition of content type label for image, animated images
are now included.
Glossary
Some clarifications to definition of "active element" based on
proposal from Ian. This definition is likely to undergo more
refinement based on
comments from Eric.
Added definition of "character encoding"
Deleted definitions of presentation, multimedia presentation,
tactile object, tactile-only presentation, tactile track, audio
object (part of audio track now), and visual object (part of visual
track now).
Checkpoint 2.2: Added techniques proposed by WCAG
reviewers.
Checkpoint 3.5: Mention "ActiveX" in techniques. Added to
techniques that plug-ins not part of content are not part of this
checkpoint
Checkpoint 3.7: Added technique: "The user agent may provide a
configuration so that when the user navigates "back" through the
user agent history to a page with a client-side redirect, the user
agent does not re-execute the client-side redirect."
A revised conformance model. This one more clearly
distinguishes "conformance" from "claims of conformance" and also
introductions the notions of unconditional and conditional
conformance.
Some checkpoints moved around (sorry folks). Notably,
checkpoints in G1 and G9 were moved to G5 since they are about
following OS conventions.
Per issue
374 changed "inflected speech" to "speech prosody" in two
places.
Per
issue 397, Global change from "range of system fonts [and/or]
colors" to "full range of fonts [and/or] colors supported by the
system".
Changed "manual (request)" to "on demand" in several
checkpoints.
To avoid confusion with "selection", use the verb "choose"
rather than "select" when not about the selection.
Abstract
Per issue
356, some edits in abstract and elsewhere to no longer talk
about the "scope of the document."
Introduction
Important editorial changes. Based on issue
356, section 1.2 was split into a number of sections, one of
which is "known limitations". The sections are:
Minor: Added direct link to WAI resources page from after
TOC.
New: Relationship of this document to other
WAI guidelines. In particular, how the UAAG 1.0 uses WCAG 1.0 and
does repair in the WAI accessibility model. This is a new section
that sets the stage for additional information about importing WCAG
terms, part of resolving issues 321 and 322 (still open action
items).
Target user agents (mostly existing text)
Known limitations of this document: Added to this section:
input modalities, time, security, and IPR (the last three per issue
377). Per
issue 396, added that resizing capabilities may be required for
conformance to other specifications (e.g., SVG [[SVG]]).
Relationship to general software design guidelines (includes
some info on installation). This is mostly existing text.
Guidelines
Guideline 3: Title shortened to "Allow configuration not to
render some content that may reduce accessibility."
Guideline 6: Per
issue 428, s/promote accessibility/benefit accessibility.
Checkpoints
1.1: Per
issue 416, added examples to Note, including selection.
1.1, 1.2: Changed "user may" to "user can".
1.2: Per
issue 392, language harmonized with that of 1.1 for three input
modalities.
Note clearly states that this checkpoint applies only when
timing is recognized.
Added SMIL example to note
Added statement about what not required by 2.2
Does not talk about scripts explicitly to avoid suggesting that
no timing can be recognized in a script.
2.2, 3.3: Edits to Notes to use "applicability" and "recognize"
in a consistent manner.
2.6: Per
issue 381, clarified language about missing equivalents. Now
repair requirement easier to read.
3.1, 3.5: Clarify that when background images or scripts are
present but not processed, to alert the user.
3.3, 3.4: Changed "motionless" to "motionless, unblinking"
3.3: Per issue
363, added note that this checkpoint does not address text
blinking and animation effects caused by means (e.g., scripts) that
the user agent cannot recognize.
3.5: Per issue
364, added "any" to checkpoint text to clarify that this is a
resource-level requirement.
3.6: Per
issue 428, dropped requirement for control when instantaneous
redirect.
3.6, 3.7, 4.18: Per
issue 408, indicate in each checkpoint that one way to handle
"on demand" is through a link or responding to a prompt.
3.8: Added missing information about placeholder requirement
per
observation from Ian.
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.9: Now use the term "global configuration"
(see glossary).
4.4, 4.5 (were 4.5, 4.6): Rewritten to make "style exception"
clearer. Per
issue 398, added more rationale to note after 4.4, as well as
reference to WCAG requirements and some examples of what is
recognizable as style. Added x-ref from 4.5 to 4.4 for this
explanation.
4.9: Per
issue 434, added an configuration option to override
author-specified and UA default settings for global volume.
4.10 (was 4.11): Per
issue 400, added to Note (a) Rationale about why for sounds
that are not synched. (b) UA may satisfy by allowing control of all
sources.
4.10, 4.12: Per
issue 434, added Note to clarify that this includes override of
author-specified volumes.
4.13 (was 4.14): Per
issue 361, added information about preset options to Note.
4.17: Per
issue 410, deleted second sentence since redundant with 4.18.
Per
issue 411, added to end of first sentence "with which it
overlaps".
4.18: Per
issue 409, added a sentence that "If a viewport (e.g., a frame
set) contains other viewports, these requirements only apply to the
outermost container viewport."
5.6 (was 1.2): Per issue
367 and issue
323, checkpoint modified to make OS and programming language
APIs examples of standard accessibility APIs. [This seems more
consistent with what the WG discussed at AOL and with the
reviewer's comments.]
5.9 (was 5.7): Raised priority from P3 to P2
per
issue 437.
5.10 (was 8.6): Moved to Guideline 5 per
issue 421. Wording harmonized with checkpoint 5.12 (formerly
5.8).
5.12 (was 5.8): Per
issue 412, added "that benefit accessibility" to second
sentence.
7.3, 7.4: Per issue
350, added more clarification about their difference.
8.3: Per
issue 422, subsumes checkpoints from previous draft: 8.2, 8.3,
and 8.8. Min req added that one mechanism other than color required
for graphical viewports. Per
issue 419, since fee links, recently visited links, and active
elements are rendered "statically", it's ok to use fonts to
highlight them. So added "font variations" to note after this
checkpoint.
8.6: Per
issue 422, subsumes checkpoints from previous draft: 4.15, 4.16
and first part of 8.6. Min req added that one mechanism other than
color required for graphical viewports. Per
issue 419, added recommendation that since selection/focus
change frequently, UAs should not use mechanisms that cause reflow
(e.g., font size variations).
8.7: About viewport highlight only. Added requirement that
default cannot rely on color alone.
9.1: Per
issue 423, added Note: "To satisfy this checkpoint, the user
agent may make available binding information in a centralized
fashion (e.g., a list of bindings) or a distributed fashion (e.g.,
by listing keyboard shortcuts in user interface menus)."
9.2 (was 9.3): Per
issue 423, (1) Changed checkpoint text to state centralized
view explicitly. (2) Moved HTML example to note (3) More
clarifications in Note, including different views per
modality.
9.3 (was 9.4): Subsumes 9.4 and 9.5 from previous draft
(combined for clarity). This cancels the need for the resolution to
issue 425 (and is inspired by the reviewer's comments). Some
edits to 9.3 to make clearer modifier key requirements.
9.4 (was 9.8): Moved to position after 9.3 per
issue 426. Also, added note that there is no requirement in
this checkpoint for simple bindings by default.
10.2, 10.4: Per
issue 428, s/promote accessibility/benefit accessibility.
Conformance
Important changes and clarifications here. I
have attempted to simplify the conformance model so that by
default, you have to do everything, and that to do less than that,
you must say how you narrow the scope of conformance in your claim
(through three mechanisms).
To avoid "core" labels, made content type labels reduce the
scope. So label names now *negative*. These changes eliminate the
need for the "All" class and abbreviated labels.
Input modality labels are also "negative" (they decrease the
scope).
Changed content type label "Text" to "NoColorText".
Per issue
355: Edits to section on using OS features for conformance.
Made this section a subsection of section on claim validity.
Text no the importance of accessible by default added to note
in section on valid conformance claim. (refer to not-yet-discussed
issue 447, which complains about what "conformance by default"
means.).
Per issue
377, Added new section "Restricted functionality and
conformance"
Per
issue 438, added statement Note: "Developers are encouraged to
design user agents that are at least partially operable through all
three input modalities."
Applicability provisions: Per issue
357, edited provisions 2 and 3 per
proposal from Ian. Added fee links as an example of what must
be recognized in content.
Glossary
Active element: Edits for clarity per
issue 403: markup/content determines what is active (not
scripts or style). Also, per issue
369, added "For the requirements of this document, user agents
are only expected to recognize potentially active elements through
markup, not through scripts or style sheets (e.g., the ':hover'
pseudo-class of CSS 2).
Fee link: Added per
issue 422. The definition makes clear that fee links must be
identified client-side.
Global configuration: This term added and used in checkpoints
4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.9.
Input configuration: Per
issue 424, now mentions that bindings not recognized (e.g., set
through scripts) are not applicable
Placeholder: Added per
issue 383. Placeholders not necessarily in DOM. Placeholders
strictly in the UI (not in the DOM) are subject to 1.3
Recognize: Important clarifications (I hope!)
to make this format-centric, not user agent centric. No longer
about what the UA is programmed to do. Instead, about what the
format enables. This change made to be consistent with language
adopted in the applicability provisions per issue
357.
Rendered content: definition now clearly states that some
content may not be inside viewport at some times.
Repair content: no longer states that content generated as a
result of user preferences is necessarily for repair; that is part
of the defn of placeholder. Repair content not necessarily in
DOM.
Section 1.2: Added to section 1.2 and in intro that this
document for four types of disabilities.
Section 1.2: Per comments
Richard Premack: Added comment "Not all user agents require
installation (e.g., those that may be part of a mobile
telephone)."
1.3: Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
337: Now allows for more than one std API for the keyboard.
Added note about I18N case after checkpoint. For issue
345: Deleted second part of requirement since no longer
necessary: "and ensure that every functionality available through
the user interface is available through this API."
1.4: Deleted sentence after 1.4 saying that a special case of
1.1 (since 1.4 about the UI). Based on
WCAG review comments.
2.5: New checkpoint per resolution of issue
346. However, taken from last sentence of 2.4.
4.2: Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
333: Added note that the UA may use another font family for
text content that can't be rendered in the user's preferred font
family.
4.13: Based on
comments from Al Gilman: removed definite article. Changed to
"independent of" (verified in Am. Heritage dico)
4.14: Changes to Note after checkpoint based on
9 November teleconference: deleted information about
properties. Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
332: Added "speech dictionary" to list of style requirements of
4.14. (As opposed to adding a new checkpoint just for this).
4.17: Editorial merge of two sentences.
4.18, 4.20: Minor clarifications about the relationship between
these two checkpoints.
5.1, 5.2, 5.7: Updated DOM references since DOM specs went to
Recommendation. Updates based on discussions with Philippe Le
Hegaret. Removed reference to "read-only DOM" since we are not
interested in whether the tree itself is read-only. No need to
define "read access". Refer to
proposed changes based on DOM to Recommendation.
5.5: In Note, give example of content in one frame causing
changes in another. Based on T.V. Raman comment.
7.5: Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
330: Talks about script, not natural language. For issue
334: Rewritten to make clearer that a search for chars from the
document character set.
9.2: Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
336: Changed from "Avoid" to "Ensure that default input configs
do not interfere with os accessibility conventions."
9.4: Change to note to talk about pointing device, not GUI
controls. This probably needs review.
9.5: Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
335: Added clarification to Note that this checkpoint does not
require single-key bindings for character input, only for the
activation of user agent functionalities.
Many of the changes to the section on conformance were made as
part of implementing the resolution to issue
345.
The section on conformance was reorganized to emphasize that,
by default, you must satisfy all the checkpoints.
Distinction between "out of scope" and "not applicable".
New section on "input modality labels".
Added requirement to well-formed conformance claim section for
input modality labels.
From section on applicability, deleted part about keyboard
support since moved to input modality section.
Moved section on conformance through the ui to sectionon
validity of claims.
New section on responsibility for claims (created from old
text).
Moved conformance claim example to "up front" in the section on
conformance so that people know what we're talking about.
Added clarification that notes are not normative.
Addition of content labels for conformance next to each
pertinent checkpoint. Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
344: Deleted sentence in section on conformance linking content
type labels to rfc2046. Removed reference to rfc2046.
Based on
Al Gilman comments: Some clarification to usage of "subject of
a claim". However, did not supress term, but used "user agent" in
section 3.1 introduction.
Based on
Al Gilman comments: Removed "valid" from "valid content type
label" in all instances.
Glossary
Updated definition of DOM.
Added definition of "script" qua writing system. Added
cross-reference from "natural language" to "script".
Per 16/17
November ftf meeting, for issue
331: To defn of profile, added natural language as an example
of prefs. To config, added sentence about parameterization of
configs, including natural language as one parameter.
For issue
334: Added definition of "document character set".
Per resolution to issue
347: Modified definition of "rendered content" to be less
circular.
Added definitions of silent/invisible content (and linked to
them).
References
Normative and informative references now split. The normative
references are those required for conformance.
Updated DOM reference since they went to Recommendation.
Deleted DOM2HTML.
There are minor editorial changes globally based on review from
Ian, Eric, and Judy Brewer.
Changed Braille to braille based on comments from Eric and
Judy.
Abstract
Updated to focus on purpose and scope of document. Scope is
expanded on in section 1.2.
Introduction
Important! Section 1.2 has been rewritten. It
is no longer essentially a summary of general design principles
(though those are still there). It is now a discussion of the scope
of the document and some assumptions that affected the choice and
elimination of some requirements.
Titles of 1.1 and 1.2 now include "user agent" before
"design"
Guidelines
Guideline 6: Some prose changed for clarification about w3c
process.
Guidelines 5, 8: Prose edited after redistribution of old
section 1.2 text (principles).
Deleted "automatic satisfaction" from four checkpoints since it
was confusing and unnecessary since the checkpoints already express
minimal requirements.
Conformance
Text in section 2 (before priorities) changed to explain
minimal requirements better.
Added "Basic" label to content label sets per
10 October teleconf. Some other cleanup to label set
descriptions.
Now, for conformance, the UA must implement some keyboard API,
even when there's no std system API per
12 October teleconference.
The phrase "conformance logo" now appears in the document to
help people find icon/logo.
Glossary
Changed definition of document source/document source view
based on
12 October resolution and added information to tie it to HTTP
1.1.
Edits to text element, etc. based on several Eric
comments.
Important discussion in the definition of API.
Standard device API moved to definition of API.
New definition of "explicit user request".
Checkpoints 3.6, 3.7, 4.19, 4.20, and 9.2 were edited to use this
term. Deleted the term "user-initiated" since covered by this term
and otherwise unused.
New definition of repair content and repair
text. Harmonized usage in the document. Added info that repair
content not required in the DOM per
12 October teleconference.
New definitions of support, implement, conform
per
12 October teleconference. Some checkpoint text changed
editorially to match these definitions.
To section 3.2: Modifications to Note: "Note: Some software may
not conform to this document but still be accessible to some users
with disabilities. Conformance is expected to be a strong indicator
of accessibility, but it is neither a necessary nor sufficient
condition for ensuring the accessibility of software."
Used the term "subject" consistently in section on
conformance.
Added to section on applicability checkpoints (3.5):
"For each content types label in a claim, all of the
corresponding checkpoints apply."
(In exception provisions): "The checkpoint refers explicitly to
graphical user interfaces or viewports and the subject only has an
audio or tactile user interface or viewports. "
Added requirement for label to well-formed claim section.
Tightened up definition of applicability.
Added Multimedia label to sample claim.
Guidelines
Guideline 2: Added note that content is expected to conform to
WCAG 1.0.
Guideline 4: Added labels to identify checkpoints that relate
to content accessibility.
Guideline 6: Changed title to avoid some possible ambiguity
(per Marja suggestion).
Guideline 8: Added some prose to explain orientation.
Checkpoints
1.1: Removed applicability statement.
1.3: Removed applicability statement. Changed "standard
keyboard API" to "standard API for the keyboard" to avoid potential
(though unlikely) confusion.
3.7, 3.8: Editorial changes. For 3.7, use singular voice. For
3.8, clarified that the refresh impulse is coming from the client,
not the server. Thus, new content is not "available" (i.e., a clue
from the server). Instead, the user may retrieve new content at
regular intervals (the checkpoints says "author-specified content
refreshes").
7.6: Made changes prescribed at
26 Sep teleconf. Added three HTML elements to informative list
of important html elements: applet, link, iframe. Made some
editorial changes suggested by Gregory.
8.1: Minor editorial changes.
8.2, 8.3: Distinguish minimum requirements for graphical
viewports from others.
To definition of configure/control, added a statement about
being able to read and write config values.
Deleted the term primary content.
Changed all instances of "equivalent alternative" to
"equivalent".
Techniques
I did my best to update techniques based on other checkpoint
changes. The techniques document should be reviewed soon to ensure
compatibility with the changed guidelines.
Added a section on spatial issues (raised by Marja).
Some new techniques for 7.6.
New techniques for XML added to 4.15 (style sheets).
I moved some sections around to try to bring the guidelines
closer to the top of the document. The primary change was to move
the section on conformance to section 3. I moved the Acks to after
the references based on IETF conventions. I moved the information
on the structure of the guidelines to the beginning of section 2. I
moved the informationon related resources to immediately after the
table of contents.
I added some LINK relationships to the beginning of the
document that provide recognizable information about alternative
formats.
I switched the order of the editors' names based on discussion
with Jon Gunderson.
Introduced notion of "responsibility" in introductory
prose.
(New) Checkpoint 9.4: Changed percentage back to proportion
based on 3
Aug teleconf. Added note that horizontal position information
applies as well. (
issue 304 and
issue 302).
Checkpoint 11.1: Added clarification that minimal requirement
is Level-A conformance. However, refer to
issue 310.
Changes to Glossary
Definition of "active element": some active elements may be
inactive at times. (
issue 298).
Definition of "native" and references to it deleted from
document.
10.5: Now about keyboard only, per the
27 July teleconference. Refer to Note about changes to
10.4.
14.3, 14.4: Updated like 8.2 and 8.3 per the
27 July teleconference. Also added requirement that default
focus highlight be different from default selection highlight
Changes to Glossary
To definition of active element, added a sentence about
elements that are sometimes inactive (refer to
issue 298).
Added a paragraph about "levels of configuration/control" to
those defintions.
Implemented
Eric's multimedia terms. However, I did not review the impact
of this change in the document.
Changes to References
Added WEBCHAR for terminology.
Changes to Techniques
While there were a few changes to the techniques document, they
are not really worth documenting.
These documents incorporate more resolutions to issues raised
during the Proposed Recommendation review and other changes based
on Working Group discussion of thoses issues. In particular, this
version of the document folds in some results of the minimal
requirements discussion. Refer also to Determining Conformance to the UA
Guidelines.
General changes
Added link to WAI Technical Activity statement.
1.3 How the guidelines are organized. Two important change:
It is now stated clearly that the notes after the checkpoints
are only normative. All normative information is moved
into the checkpoint text itself. The Notes are distinguished from
the checkpoint text in two ways: markup (DT v. DD) and the notes
begin with the word "Note".
After the discussion of checkpoint organization, there is
discussion of minimal requirements.
Changes to checkpoints
1.1: Moved normative requirements from Note to checkpoint.
1.2: Moved normative requirements from Note to checkpoint.
1.3: Moved normative requirements from Note to checkpoint.
1.5: Moved normative requirements from Note to checkpoint.
2.2: Minimal requirement (pause) incorporated.
2.5: Minimal requirement (URI/type) incorporated. Note,
however, that this only applies when non-text content is included
by reference.
2.6: Edited to match wording of 2.5. Note expanded with example
and reference to WCAG 1.0
3.1: turn on/off changed to "not render". Note expanded with
rationale and suggested technique in this case. This requirement
may be expanded in a future draft.
Old 3.2 deleted.
3.2: (Old 3.3) Freeze video changed to "not render". This
requirement may be expanded in a future draft.
Old 3.4 deleted.
3.3: (Old 3.5) Min requirement incorporated (motionless
text).
3.4: (Old 3.6) Min requirement incorporated (motionless
images).
3.5: (Old 3.7) Wording changed to "not execute".
3.6: (Old 3.8) Min requirement incorporated (manual
access).
3.7: (Old 3.9) Min requirement incorporated (manual
access).
3.8: (Old 3.10) on/off images changed to "not render". This
requirement may be expanded in a future draft.
4.1: Added min requirement for font size. (system)
4.2: Added min requirement for font family (system)
4.3: Added min requirement for color (system)
4.4: Added min requirement for color (system)
4.5: Added min requirement for audio, video, animations.
4.6: Added "resume" to list of control requirements, per
resolution of
22 June teleconference.
4.7: Added min requirement (range of positions available to
author).
4.8, 4.9: Two volume checkpoints about global and independent
volume control. Old checkpoints 3.2 and 3.4 deleted, per resolution
of
22 June teleconference.
4.11: Add min requirements per
6 July teleconference. Enumerated voice characteristic
properties, per resolution of
15 June teleconference. Also, removed ambiguous end of sentence
about "other properties". Also, changed "family" to "gender".
4.16: NOT YET REVIEWED. Text changed to fix bugs and
incorporate min requirements. Refer to
proposal from Ian.
5.5: Moved normative requirements from Note to checkpoint.
5.8: Only about conventions that benefit accessibility, per
resolution of
15 June teleconference.
7.2: Some edits to the note after the checkpoint.
7.3: Add min requirements (seq navigation).
7.4: Add min requirements (seq navigation).
7.5: Add min requirements
(forward/reverse/case-insensitive).
7.6: Add min requirements (important or doc object).
7.7: Add min requirements (inclusion/exclusion).
8.2: NOT YET REVIEWED. Add min requirements (one approach other
than color).
8.4: Add min requirements (which set of elements).
8.5: Add min requirements (inclusion/exclusion).
8.6: Add min requirements (enumerated list of info).
8.7: Add min requirements (reference to 8.6).
8.8: Add min requirements (follow system conventions).
9.4: Add min requirements (percentage).
9.5: Add min requirements (percentage).
10.7: Add min requirements (one profile).
Important Also moved requirement from note to be
able to choose from among profiles, including no profile.
10.9: Add min requirements (three pieces to the req).
These documents incorporate more resolutions to issues raised
during the Proposed Recommendation review and other changes based
on Working Group discussion of thoses issues.
Changes to the Guidelines
General
PDF version is now gzipped (reduced from 10 Megabytes to
600K).
Style sheet fixed (was breaking under NN).
Changed "application" to "software" in some places, notably in
definition of "user agent". Based on
suggestion from Dick Brown.
Configure and control: 4.8, 4.1, 4.9, 4.10, 7.7, 8.5, 8.7
Configure: 2.2, 2.3, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.11, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15,
4.16, 9.3. There was no change to the wording of these checkpoints,
which already used the term "configure".
Glossary
Definition of "native support" modified. Now speaks more
clearly about implications/benefits of using operating system
features, and that the UA is not required to make these features
available through the UI or programatically.
Definition of synchronization added, based on
suggested definition from Eric Hansen. Part of Eric's
definition was moved to the techniques for checkpoint 2.4.
Global replace of "support" by "implement" (in almost all
cases). The usage should be that the user "implements" a
specification and "supports" a feature.
Moved the accesskey "c" to the table of contents from the first
link in the navbar. Also documented this accesskey after the table
of contents. This is the only accesskey that we use.
Dashes now marked up as dashes.
Usage of the generic term "document object model" v. the
specific W3C DOM clarified.
Replaced ABBR element in markup with ACRONYM.
Please note that this draft does not take into account "minimal
requirements" discussions (refer to
issue 257.
Introduction
In "1.2 Principles of accessible design", deleted information
about contextual v. direct navigation methods per the resolution of
issue 274 and moved some of this text to Guideline 7.
In "1.3 How the guidelines are organized", added a statment
that some checkpoints overlap in scope and this is indicated in the
checkpoint description. This was added per the resolution of
issue 235.
Moved information about "consistency" to the Techniques
document since there are no consistency requirements, per
resolution of
issue 275.
The scope of the guidelines was not increased to include future
types of user agents explicitly, per the resolution of
issue 212.
Conformance / Applicability
1.7 New subsection entitled "Which user agents
may conform" per the resolution of
issue 232.
1.7 Clarification about the required accessibility of the
conformance claim (in "Well-formed conformance claims").
Added clause about applicability of content purpose per
resolution of
issue 211 and
issue 247 (scope limited to what is recognized).
Added a general statement after the applicability provisions
that, unless indicated, all checkpoints required implementation
through the user interface, per the resolution of
issue 258.
Added a statement that input / output device applicability
referred to the entire user agent, not a subset of functionalities,
per the resolution of
issue 255.
Important: Removed clause about applicability
and hardware per resolution of
issue 256.
Added "unless at least one of the following is true" to the
applicability provisions per the resolution of
issue 268.
Per resolution at
25 April teleconference, added statement section on conformance
about how UAs and ATs fit together and the goals of improving
accessibility in tandem.
In the resolution of
issue 259, the Working Group confirmed that using features of
the OS was recommended. There was no change to the pertinent
applicability provision.
In the resolution of
issue 252, the Working Group confirmed the current level of
conformance granularity. There was no change to the overall
conformance policy.
Some priorities were changed and thus checkpoints were
reordered
Some checkpoints were moved because they made sense in other
Guidelines.
As a result, the numbers below indicate the numbers in the
document as of this version (which may be different from the
numbers indicated in the recorded issues).
Changes to individual checkpoints:
Checkpoint 1.1: Edited so that it no longer speaks only about
devices, per the resolution of
issue 255.
Checkpoint 1.3: No change to scope, per resolution of
issue 261. No change in note about client-side image maps per
resolution of
issue 214.
Checkpoint 1.4: Edited so that it no longer speaks only about
devices, per the resolution of
issue 255. Note about client-side image maps unchanged per
resolution of
issue 219.
Checkpoint 1.5: Fixed example in note per resolution of
issue 215 and
issue 216. Scope of checkpoint not changed per WG resolution of
issue 245.
Checkpoint 2.1: As a result of the resolution of
issue 207 and issue
issue 246 the checkpoint was edited slightly as was the Note,
and to align the checkpoint with checkpoint 2.3, also changed as a
result of issue 207. More importantly, the reference to "including
alternative equivalents" has been dropped (and the definition of
"content" improved). And the note after 2.1 has been changed per
the resolution of
issue 241. No change has been made to 2.1 as a result of
issue 217 about locational information. I need to confirm with
the reviewer, but I have proposed to the reviewer that this is an
authoring, not user agent, issue. Lastly, no explicit information
about "recognized alt equivs" is required, per the resolution of
issue 211.
Checkpoint 2.3: Important: I have modified
this checkpoint as an implementation of the resolution of
issue 241. The current wording (easy access to equivs in the
same viewport) reflects a resolution of the
2 May teleconference. I think this wording subsumes the wording
of the previous checkpoint (allow the user to choose equivalents).
Moved Note after 2.3 to 2.1 techniques (about choosing from among
multiple captions). The priority of this checkpoint was not
changed, per resolution of
issue 269.
Checkpoint 3.9: Important: Priority raised to
P2 per the resolution of
issue 264.
Checkpoint 4.1: Note after checkpoint fixed per the resolution
of
issue 219.
Checkpoint 4.2: The priority of this checkpoint has not been
changed, per the resolution of
issue 248.
Checkpoint 4.5: Added cross-reference to checkpoint 2.4 per
resolution of
issue 220. Priority not changed, per resolution of
issue 244. However, what is minimum to conform needs to be
clarified as part of issue 257.
Checkpoint 4.7: Editorial change per resolution of
issue 271. The priority has not been changed per WG resolution
of
issue 249
Checkpoint 4.15: Checkpoint text clarified per the resolution
of
issue 223.
Checkpoint 4.16: Important: Checkpoint text
modified to talk about limits to the number of open windows, per
the resolution of
issue 224. Added cross-references per the resolution of
issue 225
Checkpoint 5.5: Editorial changes to the Note after the
checkpoint per the resolution of
issue 227.
Checkpoint 5.7: More cross references added per the resolution
of
issue 228.
Checkpoint 5.9: Deleted the word "default" from the checkpoint
text and added examples after checkpoint per the resolution of
issue 230 and
issue 229. Priority of this checkpoint unchanged, but only
talks about conventions that affect accessibility, per the
resolution of
issue 262
Checkpoint 7.2: No change, per resolution of
issue 266.
Checkpoint 7.3: No change, per resolution of
issue 265.
Checkpoint 8.1: Note added about graphical user agents being
able to satisfy the checkpoint with grid layout (and a little more)
per the resolution of
issue 235. The priority was left the same per the resolution of
issue 263. Also, minor edits to Note as approved by working
group at the
25 April teleconference.
Checkpoint 8.3: Not deleted, per the resolution of
issue 250.
Checkpoint 8.4: Added note about navigable outline view, per
resolution of
issue 272.
Checkpoint 9.2: Modified per
Issue 208. Refer also to clarification that general prompting
(not just special case of 9.2) satisfactory technique per
issue 279. The priority is still P2, the WG's resolution of
issue 243.
Checkpoint 9.4: Change not yet approved by WG
Modified checkpoint text per
5 May proposal by Ian.
Checkpoint 10.5: Added Note per the resolution of
issue 238 that in some modes number of single commands
available will be significantly reduced.
Checkpoint 10.2: Editorial changes to the Note for clarity per
the resolution of
issue 237.
Checkpoint 10.6: Note clarified (based on reviewer comment) per
the resolution of
issue 239.
Checkpoint 10.7: Changed "view" to "viewport" in Note.
Checkpoint 10.9: Editorial cleanup per the resolution of
issue 273. Added note about graphical tool bars, per discussion
at
20 April teleconference.
Checkpoint 11.2: No change. Priority left the same per
resolution of
issue 267.
Checkpoint 11.5: Only talks about changes that affect
accessibility (and info added to Note) per the resolution of
issue 251.
Glossary
A number of changes were made to the glossary:
Refer to changes in content, view, viewport, element,
attribute, document object, document object model, document source,
and document source view. These changes, mostly made per the
resolution of
issue 278, were also influenced by later
comments from Al Gilman and Eric Hansen.
Added definition of "default styles".
Added info to definition of configure about system limitations
in the range of configurability.
References
Added additional references to IBM guidelines.
Added SAMI.
Added JAVAAPI.
Added AERT, a reference to the evaluation and repair techniques
document.
Changes to the Techniques
Editorial
Editorial changes made based on Eric Hansen detailed review
(marked up on paper). Refer also to his
comments on 10 March techniques. The comments that have not
been taken into account in this release are:
2. Provide better description of visuals.
6. Respect proprietary rights of regarding product and company
names.
This is a major revision of the Techniques
document, with too many changes to document easily. The text should
be less redundant, less verbose, easier to read, and more complete.
Some stuff:
Deleted appendix 6 on techniques for ATs and integrated
elsehwere. The techniques were almost all in the body of the
document anywya.
Deleted appendix
New references and references divided into groups (guidelines,
user agents, resources, etc.).
Changed all occurrences of "alternative equivalent" to
"equivalent alternative" as in WCAG and ATAG.
Incorporated editorial comments from Judy Brewer.
Switched checkpoints 3.8 and 3.9 to put them in the correct
priority order.
The PDF version of the spec is no longer gzipped.
Changes to the Techniques
Added a cross-reference from checkpoint 5.6 techniques to the
appendix on in-process loading. Also added some verbiage as the
beginning of clarificationon the meaning of "timely".
Added some techniques to 10.9 about turning on/off controls
based on a Charles request.
Based on Mark Novak comment, added some info to Appendix 4 on
where to find access info in MS Windows.
This section summarizes the major changes to the guidelines
between the last call draft and the first Candidate Rec draft.
Total checkpoints in last call: 87
Total checkpoints in CR draft : 80
Deleted checkpoints
2.3 (not an access issue)
2.6 (subsumed by new 2.5)
3.10 (merged with new 3.9).
4.8 (subsumed by new 4.5)
4.10 (subsumed by new 4.6)
4.11 (subsumed by new 4.5)
5.1 (subsumed by new 5.1 and 5.2)
5.2 (subsumed by new 5.2 and 5.6)
7.3 (subsumed by new 7.6)
8.9 (deleted since not specific enough and part of 11.5)
9.1 (deleted since subsumed by new 5.4)
Added checkpoints
4.15 (focus control)
8.2 (visited links)
10.5 (single command now separate from new 10.2)
11.5 (document changes)
Modified checkpoints
Checkpoint priority changes
8.5 (Priority dropped to P3, now 8.4),
8.8 (Priority raised to P2, now 8.7)
10.5 (Priority raised to P1, now 10.2)
Checkpoint clarifications
The following checkpoints were clarified, modified due to
merging, or otherwise improved. If the checkpoint number changed,
the new one is in parentheses: 1.1, 1.5, 2.2 (now 2.5), 2.4 (now
2.2), 2.7 (now 2.3), 3.9 (now P2), 4.1 (order switched with 4.2),
4.7 (includes more multimedia types, now 4.5), 4.10 (now 4.6), 4.13
(includes more multimedia types, now 4.6) 4.17 (now 4.12), 4.18
(now 4.16), 5.3 (now 5.2), 5.4 (now 5.3), 10.3 (now 10.4), 10.6
(now 10.7).
Editorial changes to checkpoints
The following checkpoints had editorial changes made to them. If
the checkpoint number changed, the new one is in parentheses: 1.4,
2.1, 2.5 (now 2.6), 2.8 (now 2.4), 2.9 (now 2.7), 3.4, 4.9, 4.12
(now 4.7), 5.5 (now 5.4), 5.6 (now 5.1), 5.7 (now 5.5), 5.5 (now
5.4), 7.6 (now 7.5), 8.3 (now 8.6), 10.4, 10.7 (now 10.8), 11.4
Other changes to the guidelines not related to the
checkpoints
These changes were made as part of a general effort to clarify
the guidelines:
The abstract and introduction sections were edited.
All the rationale sections (guideline introductions) were
edited.
There were terms added to and removed from the glossary
Now the PDF and PS versions are gzipped since they are so
big.
Attempt to harmonize use of imperative verbs in all
checkpoints: provide, make available, ensure, implement, conform,
etc.
Editorial changes made throughout based on comments from Eric
Hansen, Madeleine Rothberg, Harvey Bingham, Martin Düerst, and
others.
Conformance
Now, the section about applicability says that that a
checkpoint or "a portion of a checkpoint" applies ...
Introduction changes
Last three paragraphs of principles of accessible design (1.2)
subsection on user interface edited to talk about installation and
consistency. Also about support for deprecated features.
A number of editorial changes were made based on Eric Hansen
comments. Changes include:
New Abstract text. More about scope of Guidelines.
New Introduction structure. Also, new text in 1.1 Benefits to
Accessibility to distinguish accessibility issues from design
benefits.
Guideline titles shortened per Gregg Vanderheiden suggestion.
Guideline subheads edited to make up for shorter titles.
Guidelines now identify more clearly which checkpoints address
user interface accessibility and which address content
accessibility. This has resulted in some checkpoint renumbering
(old-to-new-number map not provided yet).
Added more information about the non-normative nature of the
Techniques in the Techniques Document.
Edits to Guideline 1 rationale.
Edited Guideline 2 subhead and rationale.
New I18N related notes after checkpoint 2.2.
Checkpoint 2.9 text on natural language change notification
clarified.
The "applicability" section is now more visible under 1.7
Conformance. The term "native" has been subsumed by the
applicability section.
Added more notes about which checkpoints are special cases of
other checkpoints.(e.g., 5.4 is special case of 5.3).
Edited Guideline 3 rationale.
To checkpoint 4.11, added note that UA may not be able to
control playback rate for all formats.
Fixed bug in 4.17 checkpoint text.
Added note to checkpoint 5.4 about availability of input config
through APIs.
Edits Guideline 7 rationale.
Checkpoints 7.6 and 7.7 have new notes about system conventions
for focus and selection.
Edits Guideline 8 rationale.
Moved note after 11.3 to Guideline 11 rationale. Also, some
edits to Guideline 11 rationale.
New clarifying note in 11.4
Term "alternative content" has been replaced by "alternative
equivalent". "Alternative text" has been replaced by "text
equivalent". The glossary defines both.
Replaced "motor" by "physical" except one occurrence.
Replaced "impairment" by "disability".
"Continuous equivalent" has been replaced by the more specific
captions + auditory description.
Added abbreviation expansions to key terms.
"Braille" instead of (small "b") "braille".
"closed captions" to "captions" with clarification in
definition.
Some glossary structure clarification. In the glossary,
modified definitions of Assistive Technology, Natural Language,
Content, Equivalent, Text Transcript, Auditory Description,
Captions, User Styles, Author Styles, selection, focus, point of
regard, and insertion point.
New references: [SPEAK2WRITE], [CHARMOD], [BRAILLEFORMATS]
Removed some references to DOM2 event model since may be for
DOM3. Need more info.
Changes to Techniques
Improved reference style and links directly to the pertinent
parts of other specs.
Created linear version of NN keymap table. Added an empty line
to show no key access to documentation.
Added note about difficulty verifying some checkpoints without
vendor info to how Gl organized
Microsoft face-to-face
Changes to Guideline 1
Added note that Checkpoint 1.1 applies to other functionalities
described in the document.
Checkpoint 1.1: Added clarification to device-independent-ui
that all input APIs need not be supported, but support for standard
APIs expected. Also clarified that supported means supported by the
UA
6.3: Used to be part of 6.1 of previous draft. Also added info
about virtual machines/plugins as per
20 October teleconf. Aoso added note after
(vendor-neutralized).
6.4: Removed part about standard APIs since covered by 6.1
The guidelines were reordered (resolved at
25 August teleconf. Note. Whenever you send
comments about a draft, please indicate which draft using the dated
(and not latest) URL.
Clarified usage of terms "view" and "viewport".
Added more links to terms in the glossary from the
checkpoints.
Changed "For dependent user agents" to "For dependent user
agents only". Same change for other class. Also, added links from
those checkpoints to the definition of the expressions.
Started using the word "resource" instead of the more specific
"document". Thus, for example, one may want to know how much of a
resource has downloaded (document, video clip, image, etc.).
Clarified relationship between frame and view and reviewed
usage for consistency.
Now refer to captions as "audio captions" (4.5 and 5.9)
Changed language "make available" into other wording as
resolved at the
18 August teleconf.
Except where indicated, guideline and checkpoint numbers refer
to those of the current draft.
Introduction
Some edits based on Judy Brewer review of similar text in
Authoring Tool Guidelines.
Guideline 1
Checkpoint 1.2: Added example of image maps.
Guideline 3 (formerly 7)
In rationale, added example of speaking link before link in
section on orientation information
Checkpoint 3.8: Use term "description track" to include
captions, sign tracks, auditory descriptions, etc.
Guideline 4 (formerly 5)
Moved information about blinking from checkpoint 4.6 to
rationale.
Guideline 5 (formerly 6)
Checkpoint 5.2: Wording now refers to text size. Font size
change or zoom are techniques. Resolved during
11 August teleconf
Checkpoint 5.12: Clarification that audio volume means that
it's supported natively.
Guideline 6 (formerly 12)
Checkpoint 6.4: Added note about exporting interfaces according
to system conventions. Please review this
addition
Guideline 7 (formerly 11)
The term "specification" is used instead of "technology"
Guideline 8
Checkpoint 8.2: Attempt to clarify wording. Now refers
specifically to browser history.
Checkpoints 8.3 and 8.4: Added the word "just" so that
navigation is more clearly among specific subsets of elements.
W3C is now a registered trademark in the US and elsewhere.
Added a number of cross-references.
Harmonized use of "graphical desktop browser" and "assistive
technology". The former term is used more widely since can be used
in terms of conformance (thus, defined by set of checkpoints).
Conformance
Section 3.1: Removed clause about conformance through other
software.
Checkpoints
Checkpoint 1.1: Now talks about device-independence through
standard OS APIs.
Checkpoint 2.6: New wording.
Checkpoint 2.7: Added example of Alt-F4.
Checkpoint 7.3: No longer just about language changes. Was old
7.3 and 9.9. Note. Now priority 1 for dependent
UAs.
Checkpoint 7.6: Combines old 7.6 and 7.8
Checkpoint 7.7: Combines old 7.7 and 7.10
Checkpoint 7.8: Was 7.9, now slightly generalized.
Checkpoint 9.1: Now includes view, selection, and focus
(formerly 9.1-9.3). Added note about frame as part of view to
subsume old 9.7.
The only changes from the previous version
(WD-WAI-USERAGENT-19990309) were related to the document's style
sheets and headers (to conform to W3C TR page styles).
It is difficult to summarize the changes in this draft of the
guidelines since there have been many. I recommend that people
review the entire guidelines document to verify whether changes
they requested were made. If not, please inform the editors.
Aside from general editing, some of the main changes
include:
Section 2: General principles of accessible design. The number
of principles in this section has been reduced to 6 in the hopes of
making them weightier.
Section 3: Terms and definitions. There is language that the
definitions are meant to make the guidelines useful, but not more
than that. The definitions have been tightened up. "Point of
regard" has been added, but it is not fully defined yet (it may
come from one of insertion point, user selection, or focus).
The guidelines now have more rationale/background
information
The techniques are now written with a consistent voice.
Each technique links to its "expansion" in the techniques
document. As noted above, not many of the techniques are discussed
more fully in the current release.
There are techniques for scripts in 5.2 and 6.5
In this release, the Postscript, PDF, and text versions of both
the guidelines and techniques documents are available (from links
at the beginning of each document).
(also called "user agent") to (and to user agent designers in
general)
1.0 Ratings and Classifications
Changed pages to document.
Removed the phrase "designed without accessibility
considerations"
2.0 General principles of accessible design
Changed last sentence from: "This document does not specify how
browsers should implement the guidelines based on these principles.
It does assume that a browser can implement the guidelines based on
the characteristics, defined here." to "This document does not
specify how browsers should implement the guidelines based on these
principles. It does assume that a browser can implement the
guidelines based on the characteristics, defined here".
2.3 Selection, Focus, and Events
Edits based on feedback from Kitch Barnicle
3.1 Control over Browser Defaults and Author Styles
Added phrase to item 8: User profiles allow for convenient
customization and allow users to share effective profiles with each
other.
3.2 Alternative Representations of Images
Removed the use of the file name should never be used as
alternative text, since it provides a poor model for authors not
familiar with ALT text.
If no ALT or TITLE text available the alt text will default to
"No alt text available".
Replaced vertical scroll to horizontal scroll
3.3 Alternative Representations for Video, Movies, and
Animations
System flags for closed captioning should be used for the
browsers default value
3.5 Alternative Views of Document
Added to item 3 "serialized tables": If no heading information
(TH tags in table) is defined in the table the user should have the
option of requesting that the first column and row be used as
header information. This is useful for simple tables, where authors
have not specified the header information.
4.1 Maintenance of Document View and Focus
As a user activates links and returns to previously visited
documents that their last view and focus in the document remain the
same.
Edited to improve clarity
5.2 Hierarchical Navigation
Changed last sentence to read: The user should be able to use
keyboard commands to navigate, expand or contract the hierarchy.
The hierarchy should be based on structural block level elements
like H1-H6, UL, OL and etc...
5.3 Direct Navigation
Changed item 1 to: [+P1] Allow the user to use the keyboard to
move the focus directly to links and controls on a page. Users
should be able to search for (and shift the focus to) a link or
control by its numerical position (a list of numbered links) or by
its name (search for search text matches only in links).